SUBJECTIVE TECHNIQUE

HOW TO MOUNT A CAMERA ON THE SPEARGUN   

Several years ago I had the idea to mount upon my speargun a video shooting device by watching some DVDs by several experts in which they explained how they managed to install a videocamera on the speargun and give to the  audience the spearfisher's view. By the way a waterproof cased videocamera had such a great volume that inevitably brandishing the speargun would have been affected negatively.

Later on, I found a french spearfishing website (normandy based) in which I found a video that explained how to mount a camera on a speargun and I got so impressed by the fact that although the camera was cased it had a smaller volume than the videocamera. I decided then to have my own one and soon I had to face two main problems: choosing the right camera and inventing a mean to mount it on the speargun.

After several weeks of comparisons and researches I chose a canon 900ti (no longer produced) as two years ago it was the only camera having a 1240*768 video resolution at 15fps!!! The whole thing costed  about 400euro, about 200 for the camera and the case....but it was really worth and to whosever wishes to do the same I suggest a canon camera as this brand has several reliable cases and accessories.

Solving the second problem took a little longer as I had to design a fixing system that did not affect the regular use of the speargun. The main concept was that it had to be projected in order to hook and unhook easily in the water and wearing thick gloves so I made a fixed L -shaped support (C–pic) to be installed on all of my spearguns (and already equipped with a bolt locked by two nuts) and a stirrup(A-pic) that you can hook at the fixed support with a nut (D-pic). After using it in the water I decided to change the nut (D-pic) with a plastic brass threaded knob tied to the stirrup by a nylon wire in order to make hooking and unhooking easier with gloves and secondly to avoid having loose parts that could be lost in the water. 

The camera then gets hooked on the stirrup by another plastic knob(B-pic) that i sugget you to provide with a rubber gasket in order to give a better grip to the case and avoid it to turn on itself after a shot. 

Do not forget to pay attention to the arming of the speargun as in that phase you need room for your hands to take the ogive on the spear groove. So when designing the support you need to cope with the position of your hands when they have finally taken the ogive to the first spear groove. 

Even if designing this system took a long time it gave me a great amusement and since each part of it was actually a second hand piece, infact the knob was part of an iron, the support alluminium from  a window frame, etc… it gave me a lot of satisfaction as I had to adapt something that was originally aimed for something else...

For further infos or to compare the solutions you have found please do not hesitate to get in touch with me in the section: contacts.